Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tutorial Tuesday: Vintage Suitcase into Mobile Studio

Once only a lonely lost piece of luggage Now this cutie is full of gift tag and correspondence goodies...

I like a good vintage suitcase, but after you aquire 40 or 50 of these little darlings it might begin to occur to you that you can and quite frankly MUST give them a second incarnation of true utility, or buy them their own house or something.While thrifting in my old hometown got a sweet little green case andI was reminded of of something I saw on Koreana's Flickr that she had scanned from a Cottage Living (I think) article.

So I gutted the little darling.It was yucky, wear gloves.

cute on the outside...groddy on the inside. But for 2.00, who cares?

And now my step by step Tutorial on the vintage case upgrade.

You will needa stripped out vintage suitcasepaper bag or large paper to trace a pattern. sturdy is betterfancy paper or fabric- amount varies by case size I used 2 large sheets of paperfoam core enough to make an insert for case lid and bottoma large piece of poster board- enought to wrap around the sides of the case top and bottomI used bias tape for an accent trimflat elastic for tool loops

glues:spray adhesivehot glue

craft knife and scissors

1)Use a paper bag to make a template of the lid and bottom of the suitcase.2) Use the template to cut the shape from foam core board or corrugated cardboard.

3) Lay out the tools the way you'd like them to hang in the case. Mark the back of the board where you will add elastic loops. (In the final design, the large pinking shears were too heavy for this lid insert.)

4) Cut the paper extra large round the board

and clip notches in the overhang, so it will lay properly as it's folded over.

5) Mount with spray adhesive. Fold over edges and let dry

6) Cut strips of the poster board to fit into the edges of the bottom and the edges the lid of the case. Cut paper to cover; enought to fold over the top and have 2-3 inched of notching clips on the bottom. ( Similar to lid insert.) Glue to cardboard, I used the spray adhesive.

7) Fit sides to inside of case.

You might need to slice 3 or 4 really deep notches to go around rounded corners.

Hot glue into place. Notched ends can be secured with white glue or more hot glue,

8) Apply bias tape as an accent and to hide little goofs.

9)Now lay out the tools and add the elastic loops to hold them in place. I pierced the paper and board witha sharp clean standard screw driver, and fed the elastic through from the front to prevent paper fraying. Mine are secured with knots and hot glue on the back side.

10)Hot glue in lid and bottom panels

11)Fill and thrill to the joy of your super custom stylish craft case.

12) Decorate the outside of the case as you see fit. Mine got a floral racing stripe decoupaged to it. But a stencil could have been really cool too...

Ohhhh.. I have one like that it is a flaming shade of orange!.. I use mine to hold my soldering tools. But yours looks ever so much more cool and hip.

I understand how they can be addictive, but I was strong and passed one up this afternoon since while cuteish and blue on the outside I has a strong feeling that it might have been used to ferry stolen organs across from border countries given the way the inside looked!

this is amazing! i'm not into the carriers that i see at the craft store, they just feel boring and plain to me, but this! this i'm into! i have a few (i had to cut down my collection!) vintage suitcases that hold supplies for certain specific projects already, now i need to make them all pretty!

OHHHH,I love, love, love this- It is just what I need.I have 3 suitcases that are just storing things right now- lots of family pictures and whatnot that I am going to scan to disc and then send the originals to my brother. I am moving to a new apartment and paring down, then within a year I am moving to Australia and paring down further- I've been thinking about how to organize my craft and art supplies- There are categories of course- fabric and bead stuff, paper stuff and painting stuff- and /wire/metal stuff- (guess I need to get one more case)so many different tools, work stations equipment and supplies!!!I'll be destashing on etsy but-but-but- its soooo hard to get rid of some stuff.

Oh my goodness this would be great for my small crochet projects. I love to work with embroidery floss for small floral items. I would be able to take it anywhere. I think I need to make a thrift shop run tomorrow. Thanks for the great idea.

This is wonderful. I saw a little suitcase - very chi chi - made up to be a first knitting or sewing or tea party kit for a small child (can't remember which). It cost around $80. So your project lends itself to gifts that are based on assemblages of cute objects..... eeloh at eeloh.wordpress.com

hi Betty, i made a post on vintage suitcases today, and im including your creation. this is a cool idea to make from a vintage suitcase. hope you could drop by, http://theshopbug.blogspot.com/ thanks :)

I found you via Recycled Crafts at Craft Gossip. I really love this case. I just made one, too, using fabric to line it instead of paper. I also made a grid of cardboard covered with fabric to make separate compartments on the bottom of the case so that I could keep supplies separate. My case has become my favorite thing. Now I want more. If I make another I will try it out with paper.

I love the pattern you chose. It really complements the color of the case exterior.

Ha ha ha...so this is what I'm saving all those vintage travel cases for? Lovely idea!I've been afraid to tear out the old yucky linings, now I can go at them and jazz up all my collection.Thank you for showing how it's done.Time to buy more of those little cases....yes!SusieTheAntiquePalette.com

I, too, linked this idea over at my blog. This idea is one of my favorite uses for a vintage suitcase. If you think of all the money we've spent on carrying totes for our crafts, this is a bargain...and much more creative. Thank you so much for this tutorial. What a great contribution!

I knew that if I hoarded train cases long enough, I would eventually find someone to show me how to redo the insides!! You will be famed in story and song, my friend! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and creativity.

I've been thinking about this project since I first saw it a few months back on Craftzine. I just got back from Goodwill and found not one- but TWO- awesome suitcases. I can't wait to share my final project with you! ... if you want to see it, that is.

Hi there. Thanks for this wonderful idea! I am going to be working on mine this weekend. Very excited. I'm an Aussie living in the US for a couple of years, I love that I will have a little piece of America to take home and keep up with my craft projects!